1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telematics system, and more particularly to a telematics system using intersection image data and a method for efficiently directing a route by using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telematics is a compound word of “telecommunication” and “informatics.” Telematics is a technique for providing a mobile communication service and a position tracking service to a vehicle so as to provide a driver with real time information relating to vehicle accidents, vehicle burglaries, driving routes, traffic and other driving conditions, as well as games.
Such a telematics system mainly provides services to a user who is in motion, so the telematics system includes a predetermined terminal installed on a vehicle. The terminal installed on the vehicle for the telematics system is called a “telematics terminal.” The telematics terminal may include a communication function for conducting communications with a telematics server, or operate as a mobile communication terminal, such as a portable phone. Such mobile communication terminals are mainly equipped with mobile display devices. For example, as high-quality hardware is being incorporated into portable phones, a universal serial bus capable of transmitting mass storage data is provided in the portable phones. Various telematics terminals used in relation to such portable phones have been developed.
Conventional telematics terminals cannot transmit mass storage data to portable terminals, so the conventional telematics terminals only provide a turn-by-turn navigation function to the portable terminals. For instance, as shown in FIG. 1, the conventional telematics terminals may display the direction a vehicle is currently moving in by using an arrow embodied as an icon.
The conventional telematics terminals use display devices of the portable terminals, such as liquid crystal displays, since the conventional telematics terminals do not have their own display devices. The conventional telematics terminals transmit route guide data to the portable terminals by using a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) while simultaneously performing a hands-free function, so the conventional telematics terminals cannot transmit mass storage data to the portable terminals. The conventional telematics terminals only provide the turn-by-turn navigation function to the portable terminals to direct the route of the vehicle.
According to the turn-by-turn navigation function, the direction of the vehicle is represented with an arrow, a text or a sound. Thus, a telematics terminal utilizing the turn-by-turn navigation function is very useful if the vehicle runs along a grid-type road, in which a driver can precisely recognize the direction of the vehicle and current turn information, such as “right turn”, “left turn,” “go straight”, and “U-turn”. However, if route guide information is provided to the driver using only the turn-by-turn navigation function in complex roads, such as five-way cross roads or high-level roads, or on curved roads, the driver cannot precisely recognize the direction of the current turn information of the vehicle. For example, if the route guidance is carried out by using the turn-by-turn navigation function in the vicinity of Seoul City Hall, lamp-ways for an express highway, or in continuous intersections, the driver can become confused.
In order to solve the above problems, there has been provided a method in which a telematics terminal displays map data by downloading the map data from an information center in a wireless manner. However, such a method requires a continuously wireless data-communication link to the information center, thereby causing excessive data communication expenses.